Improved submarine armament



UNITED STATES PATENT Fries,

JOHN VOOD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW? YORK.

IMPROVED SUBMARIN E ARMAMENT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,06?, dated June 7, 1364.

fo @ZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN WOOD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, Vhave invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Means of Firing Cannon Below the rater-Line; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the said invention, refer ence being had to the annexed drawings, making partof this specification, wherein- Figure l is a plan of my improvement, and Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same as titted into a vessel.

Similar letters designate the same parts.

The nature ot' my said invention consists in a means for preventing the ingress of water through a tube both before and after a projectile from a cannon is iired through that tube, the object being to allow for ring below the water-level at an adjacent vessel, so as to injure her below that water-line where least protected,and where injury would be the most detrimental to an enemy.

In the drawings, a represents a portion of a vessels outline, which vessel may be of any desired size or shape and of any suitable material.

b represents a cannon that is to be mounted on any suitable swivel or carriage, and is to be located in the vessel at or below the waterline; and I remark that more than one gun may be provided in a vessel, together with the tube and apparatus for passing the ball and keeping` out water, or one gun may be so lo cated as to be tired through either 011e ot` three or more such tubes passing through the bow or stern and sides, so as to direct the projectile to the desired point.

I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of one ot' said tubes fitted with my improwments.

c is a tube passing through the vessel and securely fitted in place. d is a slide-valve,

be provided with a valve or stop-cock if re quired.l

I make use of two or more sliding plates, g g, of felt, rubber, sheet metal, or other suitable material possessing sufiicient strength to resist the pressure ot'water, and sliding frecl y up into chambers or through openings in the upper part of the tube o.

When thev gun is to be fired, it is to be drawn back or swung` around and loaded as usual, and it may be slid forward so that its muzzle enters within the tube o, the parts fitting each otl1er, or some little space may be left between the end of the tube and said muz zle. The gates d and e are to be raised and all the slides g, except one, as represented in Fig. 2. The other slides g are to be sustained by ropes or latches, so that they can be easily and instantly dropped. The gunner stands ready with the connection to the suspended slide or slides g in one hand, and the moment he tires he drops vsuch slide or slides g into place across the tube o. 'The projectile going out ofthe tube before either of the suspended gates could fall penetrates or carries with it the slide that had kept the waterout, and the other slide or slides, falling instantly behind, close the pipe o before much or any water has time to run back. This may be repeated several times in succession, the apparatus being' provided with the necessary number of slides, or new ones may be introduced in place of those shot away.' llhe pipe f allows the air, gases, and smoke freely to escape, and prevents said air forming a cushion for the ball or the smoke l passing out between decks. A pump, well, or other receptacle for such water as may leak or pass into the tube is to be provided at h to receive the same, from which well the water is to be pumped out by any usual means. The tube cis represented as projecting beyond the vessel and containing two slides or gates, t' i. These may be operated by chains voutside the vessel and close the tube more securely. It' desired, several slides or gates` g, may be fitted into a plate, as represented in Fig. 5, that can be set over an opening in the top ot' the pipe c and bolted to place, each gate being made of a thin sheet of metal or rubber set in a frame. The frames of the gates remain and keep the pipe tight after the sheet has been shot through, and the next frame in the rear l is to be dropped in succession as the cannon is fired, and then by closing` the gate d the sheets of metal or other material, and tted plate may be removed with the frames and so that said slides can be dropped in succesnew slides or gates tted into place. sion, as speeied.

I do not claim tiring under Water; neither In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my do I claim a single diaphragm through which signature this 22d day of March7 1864.

the ball passes; but i What I claim, and desire to secure by Let- JOHN WOOD' ters Patent, is Witnesses A horizontal pipe provided with the air- LEMUEL WV. SERRELL, escape pipe and a series of slides containing Trios. GEO. HAROLD. 

